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When working in Ecosim or Ecospace you work within a ‘scenario’. A given Ecopath model can have any number of Ecosim and Ecospace scenarios attached, and they all inherit their basic parameters (such as number of groups, group names, diets and other parameters) from the parent Ecopath model. If you change a group name or delete a group in Ecopath the changes will be carried over to existing (and new) Ecosim and Ecospace scenarios. A scenario keeps track of all the information that is needed to store and later duplicate a simulation.

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When working in Ecosim or Ecospace you work within a 'scenario'. A given Ecopath model can have any number of Ecosim and Ecospace scenarios attached, and they all inherit their basic parameters (such as number of groups, group names, diets and other parameters) from the parent Ecopath model. If you change a group name or delete a group in Ecopath the changes will be carried over to existing (and new) Ecosim and Ecospace scenarios. A scenario keeps track of all the information that is needed to store and later duplicate a simulation.

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__Important note__: Before using Ecosim you must have a balanced Ecopath model. Once you have finished balancing your Ecopath model you can begin using Ecosim. Note that once you start using Ecosim, especially when you start fitting to time series data, you will most likely encounter unexpected problems that require you to iteratively make adjustments to your Ecopath model (for example, groups becoming extinct because predation or fishing pressure is too high). Iterating between Ecopath and Ecosim in this way can be time-consuming but is very informative. Indeed, running Ecosim is an important test of the viability of a newly-balanced model and can raise interesting research questions.

The Ecosim menu also has a ''Save As...'' option, allowing you to save your scenario under a new name. This is an important feature that allows you to preserve properties of an Ecosim scenario that you are happy with (e.g., [[Vulnerabilities flow control.htm|Vulnerabilities]], [[Group info.htm|Group info]]), while exploring the impact of other factors in different scenarios. It is also a useful way to create a backup of a successful scenario before trying out new parameter values.

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The Ecosim menu also has a ''Save As...'' option, allowing you to save your scenario under a new name. This is an important feature that allows you to preserve properties of an Ecosim scenario that you are happy with (e.g., [EwEugVulnerabilitiesFlowControl Vulnerabilities], [EwEugGroupInfo Group info]), while exploring the impact of other factors in different scenarios. It is also a useful way to create a backup of a successful scenario before trying out new parameter values.

__Important note__: Imported time series are loaded into your database but not into your scenario. Use ''Load time series'' and'' Apply time series'' on this menu or in the [wiki:EwEugTimeSeries Time series] form to load and apply time series into your scenario.

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For important introductory information about fitting Ecosim models to time series data, see [wiki:EwEugTimeSeriesFittingInEcosim Time series fitting in Ecosim] and [wiki:EwEugHintsForFittingModelsToTimeSeriesReferenceData Hints for fitting models to time series reference data].

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For important introductory information about fitting Ecosim models to time series data, see [EwEugTimeSeriesFittingInEcosimEvaluatingFisheriesAndEnvironmentalEffects Time series fitting in Ecosim] and [wiki:EwEugHintsForFittingModelsToTimeSeriesReferenceData Hints for fitting models to time series reference data].